The mixture of lava and seawater creates an explosive hazard

This telephoto image shows dark fragments of molten and semi-solid lava being blasted upward and outward during a hydrovolcanic explosion at the Waikupanaha ocean entry west of Kalapana in April 2008. Similar explosions are occurring at Kīlauea Volcano's current lower East Rift Zone ocean entry. For more information, please see "Littoral hydrovolcanic explosions: a case study of lava–seawater interaction at Kīlauea Volcano" (https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/vsc/file_mngr/file-186/Mattox and Mangan_hydrovolcanic explosions.pdf). USGS photo by M. Patrick.